Volatility in financial markets continued today following Thursday's Brexit vote.
Both Mr Cameron and Mr Osborne acknowledged the coming months would not be "plain sailing" and made clear they expected "adjustments" to the expected path of the economy.
However, they insisted the UK was in a strong enough state to weather the storm and steered clear of the warnings of recession heard during the referendum campaign.
But their efforts were not enough to prevent turmoil on the markets, with the pound dropping to a 31-year low against the US dollar while more than £40 billion was wiped off the value of Britain's biggest companies as the FTSE 100 Index fell 2.6%.
In a statement to the House of Commons, Mr Cameron resisted European pressure for a quick resolution to the situation, insisting it would be for his successor as PM to trigger the two-year process of negotiating a new relationship by invoking Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty.
He dismissed calls for a second referendum to attempt to reverse last week's vote.
Mr Cameron said: "The assessment I have made is it is a national sovereign decision to trigger article 50.
- "And so I think it's right for this government to prepare the ground for the next government to choose the model it thinks is the right one to pursue, to hold some discussions and then to trigger the article 50 process, which - just so the House fully understands - has a two-year limit which can only be extended by an unanimous vote of all other 27 members, and at the end of that two-year period if you don't have an arrangement you then move to World Trade Organisation rules.
"So I think it's right that we go about this deliberately and sensibly to get the best deal for our country."
His position means talks will be put on hold for more than two months, as a Conservative backbench committee set a deadline of 2 September for the election of a new party leader, who Downing Street confirmed will immediately receive the keys to Number 10...
[rte.ie]
27/6/16
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